The invention relates to a sliding and lifting roof for vehicles having a rigid cover, which in its closed position closes a roof opening in a fixed roof surface, which cover is mounted on guide rails that extend parallel to the side edges of the roof opening, and which cover can be selectively tilted so that its rear edge is raised above the fixed roof surface, or slidably displaced, after lowering of its rear end below the fixed roof surface. The invention also relates to a vertically adjustable rain gutter, which is elevated when the cover is raised or closed so as to be positioned under the rear edge of the roof opening and, after lowering, is rearwardly displaceable together with the cover.
In a known sliding lifting roof of this kind, German Offenlegungsschrift No. 32 18 209, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,442, the problem exists that water, accumulated on the roof after a rainfall or after passage through a car wash facility, or the like, at least in part may reach the interior of the vehicle when the brakes are applied with the cover in its tilted position.
It is the primary object of the present invention to refine the design of the noted type of sliding and lifting roof in such a way as to effectively prevent water accumulated on the roof surface from entering the vehicle interior when the cover is tilted.
This objective is achieved, in accordance with a preferred embodiment, by having the rain gutter of the invention connected with a tilting device which, when the cover of the rain gutter is raised, causes it to assume a slanted position such that the forward edge of the rain gutter forms a splashboard which projects upwardly above the rear edge of the roof opening.
In accordance with the invention, because the tilting action of the rain gutter causes the front edge of the gutter to be elevated, when the cover is raised to a position in which at least a portion of it is positioned above the rear edge of the roof opening, if the vehicle is braked, water which has accumulated behind the roof opening on the fixed roof surface will hit the front edge of the rain gutter, which acts as a splashboard, and is then drained off by the rain gutter in a known manner.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the tilting device connected with the rain gutter may have control levers at both sides of the roof opening that are fixedly connected with the rain gutter in the area of their rear ends, and pivotally connected to the cover in the area of their forward ends, at a point which is closer to the rear edge of the cover than its forward edge. The degree to which the forward edge of the gutter is elevated when the cover is raised can easily and appropriately be predetermined by the position of the pivotal connection of the control levers to the cover. Thus, the closer the pivot point is to the rear edge of the cover, the more pronounced the tilting of the rain gutter will be and, in turn, the higher the forward edge of the rain gutter will be positioned when the cover is tilted.
If, in a manner also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,442, the rain gutter, for purposes of vertical adjustment, is supported on inclined planar cam surfaces by cam followers that are fixedly connected with the rain gutter, then the cam followers, advantageously, may simultaneously be disposed so that they form pivot bearings for the tilting movement of the rain gutter, when the cover is raised.
In a further developement of the invention, at least the upper segment of the forward edge of the rain gutter consists of a flexible splashboard strip, which, even in a position corresponding to the closed cover position of the gutter, attempts to project upwardly above the rear edge of the roof opening, and which can be resiliently deflected by the closed cover. As a consequence, the effective height of the splashboard can be increased when the cover is raised.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.